Tag Archives: Paper

I think that we have all had some experience with bullying at some stage. Whether it be with ourselves when we were little or with our own kids. It’s something that should be taken seriously and should not be tolerated in our society. Trinidad Hunt has a wonderful activity you could use with your class about how to choose friends. I’ve pasted it on my blog as I feel it would be such a wonderful activity for you to do with your own children or if you are a teacher, do it with your class. Perhaps it could provide some inspiration for us as adults to take a look at those friends who are ‘poisonous’ to us. Let me know what you think.

This is the classroom activity that I designed, you can do the same with your class:

Divide the class into teams of 4 or 5.

Hand each team a large sheet of butcher or poster paper and a set of poster pens.

Ask each team to draw a line down the middle of the sheet.

Title the left column: Fake Friends

Title the right column: Real Friends

Ask the students to list the things makes a Fake Friend or a Real Friend

Give the teams 12-15 minutes to fill their charts in.

Have each team share their charts. Based on the following guidelines.

Everyone must share something.

One person introduces each member of the team.

One person shares the process they went through to complete their discussion and the chart.

Two or three students share the material.

One person ‘wraps’ or reviews and ties together the presentation to close.

Close with a full room discussion on recognizing the difference between fake friends and real friends in real life and surrounding yourself with real friends.

“Hopefully in your personal life you have worked out what you want from your partner, family or friends. I am sure you have worked out what you want from your manager or the school you work at. Have you ever taken the time to ask your students what they want? I have a wonderful exercise that I do with students. I divide the class into teams of 4 or 5. I give each team a large sheet of butchers paper and some colored markers. Then I ask them how their teachers can support them and help them achieve the results they want in their lives. Teams have 20 minutes to discuss the question and brainstorm or list their answers. When they are complete. I give each team 3-5 minutes to discuss and pick their top 5 items from the list. Each team then shares their results with the whole class. I have asked this question of students for many years and almost without exception I have gotten the following items in many of the teams’ top 5 items: 1.I want my teachers to know me by name. 2.I want my teachers to listen to me. 3.I want my teachers to respect me. 4.I want my teachers to take me seriously. I invite you to do this activity with your students to see what their answers are and how they align to my results. As the principal of a school, why not try this activity with your staff. I would go so far as preparing your own personal and private list of things you expect to be on the top 5 list. See how well you know your team, or how well you think you know your team. In the coming weeks – maybe even years – I will discuss the terms “listen to me”, “respect me” and “take me seriously”. These are vitally important concepts, that go the absolute heart of what it means to be a human being. You see if you are not listened to, respected or taken seriously, aren’t the people around you ignoring you? “